My God is a god of _______________________

 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.    1 John 1:6-7 (NASB)

If you look around, you will notice that many people will tell you that

"My God is a god of fill in the blank"

and provide what may be a single or couple of attributes of God that are the most attractive to them.  However, what they also do is completely ignore other attributes of God that they either find unattractive or don't want to believe.   In doing so, they walk around with a distorted or incomplete view of who God is.  This is a dangerous thing because our views of God determine our beliefs/world view, shape our actions and these things determine our destinies and our future for all eternity. 

"You hypocrites, rightly did Isiah prophesy of you: 'This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.  But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrine the precepts of men.'"  Matthew 15: 7-9 (NASB)

Paul alluded to people having this incomplete view in 2 Corinthians:

"But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.   For it one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully."   2 Corinthians 11:3-4 (NASB)

You see, one of the many schemes of the devil is to get people to heavily emphasis one of God's attributes over others.   For example, if I only recognize and talk about God's love and grace while ignoring or dismissing His justice and wrath, I am defaming who God is and should not expect Him to be close to me or keep me.  To say that God is a God of love and totally ignore his other attributes paints a view of God who is incomplete and ultimately leads people to worship a god that doesn't exist. 

"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."   John 3:36 (NASB) 

"Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God's kindness.  If you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off."   Romans 11:22 (NASB)

Some will tell you that as long as you have accepted Jesus that you are covered by grace regardless of what you do.   Following that doctrine seems to encourage new Christians to continue to live in sin and not fully surrender their lives to Christ.  It is no wonder the church today looks so much like the world!   No wonder why so many people consider christians today to be hypocrites.   They act one way while in church, but ultimately continue to act according to the world outside of it.   This is wrong and will ultimately end in their destruction. 

"For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgement and The fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.  Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.   How much severer the punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified and has insulted by the Spirit of Grace?   For we know Him who said, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.'  And again, 'The Lord will judge His people.'   it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God."   Hebrews 10:26-31 (NASB)

"Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."   Matthew 10:28 (NASB) 

"You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name forever and ever."   Psalm 9:5 (NASB) 

You see, while it is true that God loves each and everyone of us, it is also true that He cannot stand / bear sin and those who continue to sin or do not accept Him will find themselves on the wrong side of eternity.

"Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright; For the man of peace will have a posterity, But transgressors will be altogether destroyed; The posterity of the wicked will be cut off."   Psalm 37:37-38 (NASB) 

"The Lord keeps all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy."  Psalm 145:20 (NASB)

"If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."  Revelation 10:15 (NASB)

While we can never know everything there is to know about God and who He is, we can have a much greater understanding than we have now.   It takes years of earnestly seeking Him and studying His word and obeying what it tells us to do.   We can't get there by picking and choosing based on what we want or don't want to hear or believe. 

"that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him."  Ephesians 1:17 (NASB)

The straight and narrow.....

It has been said that many will seek but few will find.   In Matthew 7:13-14 (NASB), Jesus tells us:

"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.   For the gate is small and the is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it."

He has also told us that there will be many who claim to know Him but will find themselves on the wrong side of the conversation when they cross over into eternity as evidenced in Luke 13:23-35 (NASB):

And someone said to Him, "Lord are there just a few who are being saved?"  And He said to them, "Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many I tell you will seek to enter but will not be able.   Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying "Lord, open up to us!"   then He will answer and say to you, 'I do not know from where you are from.'

The more I read, study and search/reach out for truth, the more Christ's words above echo and ring true.   The sharper into focus what He meant about the way being narrow and it being easier for a camel to enter thru the eye of a needle become. 

Fact is, there is absolute truth and the way to that truth is very easy.  However, the path that has to be followed with that truth is, indeed, narrow.   In fact, many today will indicate that it is so narrow that it is excessively restrictive.   I would go so far as to say that several today would say that the truth is "intolerant." 

However, searching out and finding the truth is the most freedom that you will ever experience this side of Heaven. 

How can that be?   Consider for just a moment a simple balcony.    However, this balcony doesn't have any railing to keep you from falling off.   Would you be willing to go out on that balcony?   Would you let your kids go out and play on that same balcony?    Now, take that same balcony and add railing.   Now how do you feel about it?   I would imagine you will feel much safer about walking out on it or allowing your kids to play there. 

In a sense, life is the same way.   Without boundaries it is very easy to fall off one side or the other and become either seriously hurt or die.   Add some boundaries and things become much clearer.